NASA's next ultraviolet telescope just cleared its last big hurdle before building begins in earnest

NASA's UVEX telescope — a mission that will map ultraviolet light across the whole sky — has passed its Key Decision Point C review, the moment the agency formally commits to building it. The commitment sets a launch by January 2031 and a total lifecycle cost of $590 million. Led by principal investigator Fiona Harrison at Caltech, UVEX will chart how galaxies and stars evolve, and it can swivel quickly to catch the ultraviolet flash that follows colliding neutron stars. Together with the upcoming Roman Space Telescope, it will give astronomers a modern, multi-colour map of the universe.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: institutional program